Water Bill Hysteria
Okay, so with all of the hoopla surrounding the new water meters and billing system, I figured I would test out my meter to see if I was being had by The Man. This is going to be a long post, but hopefully worth it for those that are concerned about their bills. This post isn’t to say that ALL systems are functioning correctly/incorrectly, it’s just to say what my system is doing and maybe give some others ideas of how to test their own usage.
Forewarning: looking at my water bill, my usage doesn’t seem insane when taking into consideration I started watering the month that the new system went into place. That being said, I didn’t go into this thinking I would find a smoking gun.
So, my sources of water usage occur from the following (in order of what I assumed would be the largest usage): 1. Front yard sprinkler system with 3 zones, 2. Backyard above ground sprinkler system, 3. Backyard in ground sprinkler system, 4. Shower (inclusive of the water heater), 5. Washing Machine, 6. Dishwasher, 7. Toilet.
I don’t have any real way to measure my usage from the front yard sprinklers, toilet, dishwasher or washer but I can document when I’m using them and coordinate that with the hourly usage chart through the city’s portal. For the stuff that I can measure my usage, I bought an in-line water meter on Amazon that connects to 5/8 NPT (so water hose connections - the two sprinkler systems in the backyard). My idea here is that this will give me some insight into how accurate the readings from the meter are. Below is my sprinkler schedule followed by my hourly meter readings (from the online portal) paired with when I was using water. Sprinkler scheduling was done so that it would occur while water shouldn’t be being used (at work or asleep).
Sprinkler Schedule:
Front Yard:
Start: 0315 & 1715
Durations: 8, 8, 5 (21 total)
Backyard Above Ground:
Start: 0720 & 1920
Duration: 8
Backyard In-Ground:
Start: 0925 & 2125
Duration: 6
Hourly Usage per City’s Online Portal for 5/19/26:
Time: Gallons
Documented water usage
2-3: 0 gallons
3-4: 0 Gallons
Front Sprinklers @ 315
5-6: 199 Gallons
Shower
Toilet
6-7: 0 Gallons
7-8: 36 Gallons
Backyard above ground @ 720
8-9: 0 Gallons
9-10: 46 Gallons
Backyard in ground @ 925
10-11: 0 Gallons
11-12: 37 Gallons
12-13: 0 Gallons
13-14: 0 Gallons
14-15: 0 Gallons
15-16: 0 Gallons
Toilet
16-17: 0 Gallons
17-18: 3 Gallons
Front Yard Sprinklers @ 1715
18-19: 0 Gallons
Dishwasher
19-20: 194 Gallons
Backyard above ground @ 1920
20-21: 2 Gallons
21-22: 47 Gallons
Backyard in ground @ 2125
22-23: 2 Gallons
23-24: 40 Gallons
24-1: 0 Gallons
Based on my sprinkler scheduling, you can pretty easily see that the time reported by the meter is about +2ish hours compared to real time. To further drive that point, I have so far managed to get 1 reading (the meter was delivered while I was at work) from the backyard above ground sprinkler system. That reading was 47.78 Gallons beginning at 1920. The portal shows 47 gallons used between 2100 and 2200 - adjusted to mean between 1900 and 2000, aligning with the start time of 1920. I was honestly surprised to see the meters reading align so well with my in-line meters reading - granted, that is only one reading but I will continue to get some readings and compare them with the portal to make sure it remains accurate.
NOW, HEAR ME OUR - I am not siding with the city. I am not siding with anyone. I’m just reporting what I’ve found from a days worth of half assed assessing. Like I said, I’ll continue to monitor, and if I see anything weird, I’ll definitely come back here.
For those that are seeing crazy bill swings, I’m sorry, that sucks, I get it. I am absolutely not saying that it’s your fault or that you do or do not have a leak. That being said, I would love to see some hourly usage for those that the city said have a leak, because to me, you should be seeing a continuous usage with some surges when you’re actually using water.. Which could still point to a faulty meter, which seems easy enough for the city to swap out for another one to prove one way or the other. Some questions that those with concerns could pose to the city could revolve around whether or not each meter was tested prior to install and if the meters are calibrated/certified prior to install or calibrated on a scheduled basis.
TL;DR: Over the course of a single day, my meters reading aligned with what I documented. This doesn’t necessarily prove anything and it certainly doesn’t mean that all meters are reading correctly/incorrectly. Eveyones situation is different and you should try to study your situation if you believe you are being cheated out of money. Just remember, nobody is going to be better at catching someone with their hand in your pocket than you are.
I would love to hear what everyone else is thinking, and ESPECIALLY if anyone else has done something like this.
UPDATE: I checked the city’s readings again for 5/20 in the same way as before and continued to get within a few gallons of what the city has reported. I have no way of telling if it’s my meter or the city’s meter where the discrepancy is originating, but so long as it stays within a couple of gallons, I’m not going to go chasing it. Also worth noting, sometime around mid-day on 5/20 my meter switched to reading to the tenth of a gallon. That means that previously, my meter had been rounding (I assume up). Not sure if everybody else’s meters did the same, but I would assume so.